Eye of the Storm
by LoveLoveLovix
Summary: Glynda's life was perfect until the pop group she was part of broke up and everything went to hell. It's been fourteen years and she's still trying to pick up the pieces, raise her adopted daughter, avoid her criminally seductive ex-bff, and maybe, just maybe, find a new love. Cover by Rontra on tumblr, and this story is dedicated to her as well.
1. Summer to Fall

"Cinder, this is ridiculous! You can't do this!"

The three members of Summer Storm stood in a small circle inside their private studio at Vale City Dance Academy. Each of the women was very different. Standing closest to the front of the room was a very dismayed young woman with dark red hair. On her left was a blonde who did not so much look older, but simply seemed to be more mature. Across from her, a pale and confident girl with wavy black hair smiled, looking as though she enjoyed the redhead's reaction. Slowly, her smile became a smirk. "I can, and I will, if you don't meet my demands. We never had any agreement about terms. No contract said I'm bound to stay. Besides," the woman said with a raise of her perfectly-sculpted eyebrows, "I would have thought that you'd want to get rid of the third wheel. Of course the fans won't like it, but wouldn't you?"

Summer frowned and shook her head vigorously. "We'd miss you. Ruby would miss you, too... do you want her to grow up without her Aunt Cinder?"

"It's not like I'm _dying,_" Cinder spat. "I'm only quitting Summer Storm. Unless, of course, you give me reason to stay."

"Reasons like what?"

"Like being promoted to frontwoman effective immediately, and changing the name of the group to Cinder Storm. Also, we need new blood in the group. If I'm in, Glynda's out. We'll find someone new."

Glynda had been trying to stay neutral. After all, there were only three women in Summer Storm. One was her, the other was her longtime girlfriend, and the third was her best friend. Or so she had thought. "You're trying to kick me out," she stated with narrowed eyes and a flip of her curly blonde ponytail.

Cinder gave an apologetic smile that was as genuine as palm trees in New York state. "It's nothing personal, dear. I simply have a specific vision for this group, and you're in the way of it. We all know you can't keep up, Glyn. You said it yourself, you've got no real angle..."

Glynda took a step forward, threateningly. The worst part of everything that Cinder said was that she was half right. Glynda could keep up, alright. She was the best dancer of the three, and even if the others had better voices and very specific angles, hers weren't bad. Since when was it her fault that she wasn't pretty and kind like Summer, or an edgy bombshell like Cin? Glynda was the forgotten brains of the group, and she was fine with that. She only needed one person's love, and that, she definitely had.

Summer put her arm around Glynda and pulled her girlfriend closer. "Don't, Glyn," she whispered, directly into the blonde's ear. "You know Cin; she wants resistance, or a fight."

Cinder laughed. "I struck a nerve. You know I'm right about this, Glynda. You check the fanpages, you know."

"I'm not going to do this!" Summer announced. She took her arm off Glynda and walked straight up to Cinder, jabbing a long, pale finger in her friend's face. "You are _not _driving Glynda out, and I am _not _giving control of Summer Storm to someone who even tries to. I was considering it up to that point, but... how could you even think about this, Cinder? We're all supposed to be friends!"

"And friends support each others' dreams," said Cinder.

Summer frowned deeper. "Exactly! Look, apologize to Glynda and we can forget about this and go on, okay?"

Glynda didn't want to hear her apology. She could feel her own heart breaking. How could Cinder have even considered this... they were supposed to be best friends to the end, Cin and Glyn. And now she was pretty much saying that she thought Glynda brought the girl group down.

"I apologize for any hurt feelings I caused, but I'm not taking it back," Cinder said with a smile. "So you won't give in?"

"No," said Summer.

"Pity," Cinder said with a false little pout, and she walked out of the studio.

* * *

The two remaining members of Summer Storm went home.

They'd lived together for six years, spanning their first relationship, their breakup, and getting back together. They'd dealt with being in a pop trio and all those trials, with figuring out their sexual orientation, with Summer deciding she was wrong and breaking up with Glynda, getting pregnant, and realizing a year later that she had been wrong about being wrong. Glynda gripped Summer's hand. They wouldn't let losing Cinder stop them, even if it did feel like a kick in the stomach.

Summer opened the door to the almost-stereotypical two story abode. "We're home!" she called.

Immediately, what seemed to be a smaller version of her ran in from the living room. "Mama, Mommy!" she cried happily.

Glynda and Summer smiled at the daughter they were raising. Ruby hadn't been planned for, no, but she was no less welcome for it. She took almost nothing from the father that she'd never met. Everything from her shining silver eyes to her dark red hair was pure Summer.

Ruby jumped into Summer's arms, and the small woman swung her daughter around. "How was your day, pretty girl?" she asked.

"We played tea party and read a bazillion books!"

Summer smiled. "That sounds like a lot of fun! Did you eat dinner?" Ruby shook her head. "Okay, how about we all get some pizza?"

The preschooler's eyes lit up. "Yay!" she exclaimed.

Ruby's babysitter came into the foyer from the living room. "Welcome home, ladies," he greeted. "How was your day?"

"It could have been better," Summer said. "I think we'd both rather forget about it, Tukson, but thanks for asking. How was Ruby?"

"Better than she sometimes is," the man chuckled. "We read together. Her vocabulary is really getting good, even if her pronunciation leaves much to be desired." He shook his head. "I guess that's to be expected from a preschooler."

Summer got a wicked gleam in her eye. "And I heard something about tea parties as well?" she teased.

Tukson went scarlet. "I plead the fifth."

Summer laughed and turned to Glynda. "Can you pay him? My hands are full," she said, adjusting Ruby for emphasis.

Glynda nodded and smiled, taking a moment to just appreciate the situation. No matter what had happened that day, she still had the two people she loved most in the world, and they still loved her too. With that thought, she reached into her pocket and pulled out Tukson's pay. He thanked her and left, with promises to be back tomorrow so the women could go to their rehearsal, and for a moment, Summer and Glynda exchanged a worried glance. Still, they did not correct him.

Summer set Ruby down, and the young girl immediately went to Glynda. "Mommy, will you read to me?"

Glynda tried to put on a smile. "I promised Mama that I would help her order pizza. How about we read together before bedtime?"

Ruby considered, then nodded.

The group walked into the living room together, and Summer flipped on PBS for Ruby, who was more than happy to sit and watch. Convinced that their daughter was content, the girlfriends continued to the kitchen. It only took a moment to order a pizza, and then, for another long moment, they were silent.

Glynda spoke first. "I don't think we can be Summer Storm without Cinder."

"Neither do I," Summer agreed.

Another long silence, then the blonde said, "We're finished as pop idols, aren't we?"

"I think so."

"We're still going to be together though, right?"

"Of course, always."

"Okay then. I can deal with anything else."

Ruby laughed in the next room over, and despite the day, Glynda smiled. Summer followed her lead. "We're a family, and we don't need to be stars when we have each other. We'll get real jobs and Tukson can keep babysitting. Next year, Ruby'll start kindergarten, and she'll have two working moms who are almost always home and never off touring and who love each other very much. We'll live a happy life, and we'll probably even get visits from Cinder when she comes to her senses. How does that sound?"

Glynda pressed her hand on top of Summer's. "Perfect," she said.

* * *

And it was.

Almost. It did have a few hitches, such as the many people stopping them on the streets to ask, "Is it true? Is Summer Storm gone forever?" Tukson quit babysitting Ruby to open up a bookshop, but that turned out to be okay because Glynda decided to go to college online and get a teaching degree, and Summer ended up working for Tukson anyway. Cinder came to visit, and though it was only to sign the papers that would officially end their stardom days, she brought Ruby a new teddy bear and played with the little girl as if nothing had ever happened.

Every night, Summer would come home to her daughter's hugs and her girlfriend's kisses. Glynda would have put dinner on the table, and they would eat, clean up, watch a movie, put Ruby to bed, and go to bed themselves, though rarely ever did they go straight to sleep.

Life was good, for that beautiful month after the most popular girl group in the world dissolved.

* * *

"Where's Mama?"

Glynda looked away from her laptop, to little Ruby. "She'll be home soon," the blonde woman said absently.

Ruby shook her head and pointed to the digital clock hanging on the wall. "That number says six. Mama gets back at five. Remember?"

"She's probably stopped somewhere." Glynda pulled her cell phone from her pocket and checked for a new text to confirm her suspicion. Nothing. The woman frowned, concerned. _Where are you, Summer? _she texted._ Text me._

Hours later, as she put Ruby to bed, she still had no response. She'd called Summer, texted her, emailed her, even left a message on her facebook wall.

Rather than going to bed, she sat on the couch and waited and worried.

Around nine thirty, someone knocked on the door. _Oh god, _she thought as she raced from the living room to the foyer, almost knocking over a lamp in the process. _Please, Summer, let this be you._

She pulled open the door, only to see Summer's childhood friend James, decked out in his full police uniform and looking as pristine as possible. "James," Glynda exclaimed. "Or... Officer Ironwood right now?"

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter."

"Of course," Glynda said. "Summer's not here right now, but... wait, are you looking for her? I would but I can't leave Ruby and she's missing, and oh god..."

James took a deep breath. "Mind getting me something to drink? Grab yourself something too, we can talk in the living room."

"But don't you hear what I'm saying?"

He put a hand on her shoulder. "Trust me here, Glynda."

A thought set in immediately as she started to put the pieces together, but she refused to entertain it. Numbly, she grabbed two colas from the kitchen and walked back to the living room. James had already made himself at home. He gestured to her favorite chair. "Sit down."

She obliged.

"Summer was found dead in a ditch in some backroads an hour ago. Nobody seems to have been around, and the roads were not frequented. We think it likely that she was killed this afternoon returning from work..."

Glynda stared at him. Nothing could keep the pieces from clicking now. "She was killed."

"Well, she did die, and it's a possibility... you have fans, lots of them, perhaps this was a Misery situation gone wrong?"

"Have you talked to Cinder?"

"She isn't family." He frowned. "Technically, you aren't either, but I know how you two were and thought you had the right to be the first to know. I'm supposed to be telling Qrow right now."

Glynda shook her head, blinking back tears. It was easier than she would have thought... maybe she was in shock, just a little bit. "Not to inform her. To question her."

"That's ridiculous. Summer told me what happened, and it seems like the two had no problem. It seems like Cinder's issue was with you."

"You don't understand how Cinder was," Glynda argued.

James stood and patted Glynda on the head, but she shoved his arm away. "Don't touch me. Don't pat me. Listen to what I'm saying because nobody knew either of those women better than I did."

"Fine, fine, I'll look into it." He gave her an infuriatingly condescending smile. She could see pity laced into it as well. "For now, you should rest. You have a lot to do tomorrow. You'll probably want to set up Ruby at her uncle Qrow's house, and start working out arrangements with Summer's family in general. Speaking of that, I have to go. I need to inform them. Don't worry about them calling you late tonight; I'll tell them you already went to bed."

The whole situation seemed to slam into Glynda all at once. She'd have to give Ruby to blood relatives, and all of Summer's stuff would be divided among that family. She had no real claim to it, did she? She had no real claim to Summer at all, not when it mattered. It was such a big thing, and yet James seemed so casual about it. "Don't you care?" she asked him angrily.

"Of course I do," he said, "but you might not be able to see it right now. You're upset and I'm on duty. Now, I'll see myself out. Good night, Glynda."

"Good night, Officer Ironwood," she spat, and as soon as she heard the front door shut, she collapsed onto the couch and began to weep.

* * *

She didn't know how to tell Ruby, so she didn't. Instead, that next morning, she dressed Ruby up in her favorite frilly black dress and little red cape, and got into the car to go to Qrow's house. They stopped at their local grocery store on the way there, and Glynda bought two packages of cookies. One, she kept sealed up. The other, she split with Ruby, who happily munched them, only asking a couple times where her Mama was.

They got to Qrow's place, and Glynda had barely started knocking when the door opened. Summer's brother himself had opened the door, looking definitely devastated, but much more composed than Glynda had expected. The woman nudged Ruby inside. "Go find cousin Yang," she told the girl, who obliged with a smile.

Qrow watched her go. "Does she know?" he asked.

Glynda shook her head. "How do I tell her?"

Without another word, she handed him the box of cookies she had saved, and he accepted them just as silently. For a moment, the two adults stood there. Then, Qrow seemed to come to his senses. "Why don't you come in?"

Almost automatically, Glynda followed him through his house. She heard her little girl playing with her bossy older cousin ("No, Ruby, _I'm _the _fire_ princess, _you're _the _rose _princess. Duh."). Then, she was in the living room, and the two adults sat across from each other. Glynda took a deep breath. "I'm sure you realize why I'm here."

"Not really, no. I would think to comfort us, but you need it as much as we do."

Glynda couldn't help but silently curse Qrow for making her say it. "You're Ruby's blood relatives. Law dictates that you have your chance to take her in and raise her." She said it flatly, trying to cut off all emotions, but she could feel a tremble in her lip and tears in her eyes.

Qrow looked towards the playroom longingly, and Glynda knew, just knew, that she was going to be all alone, that he would take her and believe wholeheartedly that it was for the best. She only wished that she could believe the same.

Then, he spoke. "She's your daughter, isn't she?"

"She was Summer's baby..."

"Yes, biologically, the same way she's my niece. But... she's your daughter, isn't she? In your heart."

Glynda swallowed hard and nodded. "She is."

Qrow took a deep breath. "I would love to have her, that little piece of Summer, and I know she and Yang would be happy to live together. I'd have no issue providing for her, but still, I couldn't do it. I won't take her away from you, on the condition that we see her often."

"Of course," Glynda said, choking up. She tried to breath, but ironically almost, the relief was too strong. The tears that had welled up in her eyes began to flow, and she couldn't help but sob. She still had her family, if only part. She still had Ruby.

She would have to tell Ruby that Mama was never coming back. She would have to find a way to support them once the stardom money came out, and she would have to deal with paperwork and probably police. She would get through it though. She had her home, and she had friends, and above all, she had her beautiful, beautiful daughter.

They would get through anything.


	2. Another Summer

_Fourteen years later_

The phone rang, and the tall blonde woman picked it up curtly. "Glynda Goodwitch," she said.

"Glyn!" Yang Xiao Long exclaimed. "Where are you?"

Glynda relaxed. "I'll be there shortly. Have Nora and Ruby already arrived?"

"A while ago," Yang responded in a tone that said, 'and we're wondering why you haven't yet.' "We practiced 'Hey You,' but now we kinda want to go out for ice cream."

"Not right now. I'll be there in a minute."

There was silence at the other end of the line. Glynda was always unsure how Yang would take things like that. "We'll rehearse. Then we'll all get ice cream," the older woman clarified.

"Sounds great, see you soon, you're paying!"

A little 'click' ended the call, and Glynda sighed. Sometimes she wondered why she had decided to coach the three young women.

As she walked to the foyer of the house she shared with her adopted daughter, a picture caught her eye. The Summer Storm logo adorned the bottom of the photo, which caught the three very different young women holding microphones. Teenage Glynda was on the rightmost side, smiling a soft, but determined smile, and on the opposite side stood Cinder, smirking sexily, with her microphone so close to her lips she was practically licking it. It was, predictably, Summer who held the most attention, however. The small redhead wore a gigantic grin as she held the other two close. She was the only one with a headset rather than a traditional mic, likely due to the fact that her hands were occupied – she was hugging her two friends.

She was the reason. Glynda didn't know why she ever questioned it.

The thirty-four year old woman reached out and touched a finger to Summer's lips before exiting the house and locking the door.

* * *

Vale City Dance Academy's private practice room was a familiar, homey place to Glynda. She'd spent many days there over the course of many, many years, starting in her youth and going into her adulthood. Her first kiss had been on the same dance floor that she now used to coach the three girls who promised to carry on her legacy. She'd had picnics in that room, slumber parties, rehearsals that lasted until midnight, and even excited, forbidden sex in the attached dressing room. Apart from the house she shared with her daughter, no place made her feel more comfortable.

The room was also home to one of her two worst memories, but she was happy enough to ignore that one.

As she walked into the studio that had been exclusively dedicated to their rehearsals, Glynda caught sight of Yang draped over the piano bench, half asleep. Ruby leaned against the gigantic mirror that covered one wall, doing homework, and Nora, for some reason, was doing cartwheels all around the floor. "You're going to want to keep some of that energy, Nora," Glynda said. "We've got a long few hours ahead of us."

"Don't worry!" Nora chirped, landing on her feet and saluting. "I'm ready to go, captain!"

Yang raised a hand lazily. "Me too, in like, five minutes."

Ruby looked up from her book. "Is it true we're going for ice cream later?"

Glynda smiled, amused, and closed her eyes. "Only if all three of you give me a good rehearsal. If we're going to get anywhere, I need you to put in your all, and if not, you won't be reaping any rewards."

As Glynda's eyes reopened, she watched Ruby fistpump. "Alright! No problem, the Queens of the Castle are on it!"

"Have you heard what Velvet said the fan forums were doing with our name?" Yang asked. "They've been abbreviating it to QotC, pronounced 'cutesy.' I like it."

"Oooh, that's nice," Ruby agreed as Nora clapped her hands together in agreement.

"There won't _be_ any fan forums if you girls don't get to work," Glynda threatened, and adjusted her glasses. "Let's take the tour set list from the top."

* * *

The Queens of the Castle were not, as the rumors said, a Summer Storm tribute band or second generation, though Glynda sometimes made the mistake of treating them as such. When Ruby had said she wanted to be in a girl group like her mother was, Glynda was more than happy to set it up... after all, she knew girl groups better than anyone else, and she knew that even with all the pain, the four years she spent in Summer Storm were the best years of her life. The dynamic was easy enough to recreate. Ruby was just like Summer, a frontwoman whose angle was pure kindness, someone whose enthusiasm could light up the stage on its own. Through auditions, she found Yang Xiao Long... Ruby's cousin, oddly enough... who took the role of bombshell immediately, and Nora Valkyrie, who became their third member.

The differences between Summer Storm and QotC were much more pronounced than the similarities, however. Ruby had more of a spotlight on her than Summer ever had, simply because of her dead popstar mother and status as the manager's adopted daughter. Yang, though sexy and flirty with an almost-dangerous tilt, was much more friendly and relaxed than Cinder ever was, as well as more of a tomboy. And while Glynda felt near-useless in Summer Storm, with no angle to speak of, Nora had immediately taken the role of the eccentric cutie.

Glynda couldn't help but circulate through four main emotions when she dealt with her girls. There was happiness, for recreating the best years of her life in such a way that her daughter could experience them too, and disappointment that it didn't work out absolutely perfectly. Jealousy that each girl in QotC had an angle and a chance to shine when Glynda had been almost always in the backseat to her groupmates. However, the single most prominent emotion was pride, especially during rehearsals like this one, where the girls sang and danced in perfect, happy harmony.

* * *

As soon as the rehearsal was over and the girls... Glynda included... were near collapsed on the studio floor, Ruby looked to her adoptive mother. "Mom, can I call Vel to come with us?"

"Of course," Glynda said, vaguely surprised that Ruby even asked about inviting her girlfriend. "She's part of QotC too, isn't she?"

Ruby's face lit up, and Glynda smiled. The last time she'd seen a couple as good as Ruby Rose and Velvet Scarlatina was... well, it was herself and Summer. Ruby and Velvet were natural. They were both seniors at Signal High School now, but they'd met in kindergarten, when the Scarlatina family moved in next door. The childhood friends had shared playdates, sleepovers, study sessions, and when Ruby was sixteen, she asked Velvet out on a date. For the last two years, the pair had been going strong.

When Queens of the Castle had formed a year ago, Glynda and Ruby had offered Velvet a spot. She had declined to be part of the group due to her shyness, but had still attended the auditions, many of the rehearsals, and all the shows and recording sessions she could. Being up close to the action and being friends with all the bandmates, she had slipped into the role of "amateur publicity coordinator" almost too easily. She kept up with the fansites, blogs, and fan forums and reported interesting news, critique, and praise back to the band, and more than once had passed the group's responses onto the internet as well. On occasion, she even interviewed the members for her own blog. Though real life fame didn't appeal to the brunette teen, internet fame seemed to suit her just fine.

Ruby dialed up her girlfriend, who answered in what seemed like no time at all. "Hey, Bunny!" Ruby greeted, using her pet name for the girl. "Wanna go out to ice cream with all of us?"

There was a pause, then Ruby put her hand over the speaker and mouthed "where are we going?"

"That new bookstore, coffee, and ice cream place on Hunter Street!" Yang decided before anyone else had even gotten a say. Glynda closed her eyes in exasperation, but let it slide.

"That new... oh, you heard Yang say it? Yeah, she is loud. Anyway, we'll meet you there in ten minutes then! I love you a whole lot! See you soon! Bye!" Ruby set the phone down and stood up. "Well, let's get going!" she said to the group.

Glynda shook her head. "Not so fast. Before we go, I want to get a picture."

"Oooh, selfie with Glyn?" Nora asked excitedly.

"No, Nora, a serious picture," Glynda clarified, getting out her phone and pulling up the camera app. "There's a specific pose. Ruby, can you stand right in the middle, with Yang on your right and Nora on your left?" The girls obliged. "Okay, now Ruby, please put your arms around the girls... just like that, thank you... Yang, give a flirty look, and Nora, just smile. You too, Ruby. Big smiles all around."

She had meant to pose them like that to recreate the famous Summer Storm picture, but Queens of the Castle was not Summer Storm. Yang blew a kiss at the camera with a wink and a cheeky grin, and Nora was all too enthusiastic, beaming like it was Christmas day. Only Ruby had it exactly right, and Glynda didn't know if it was because she automatically recognized that Glynda wanted to recreate the shot that hung in their foyer, or whether she was simply her mother's daughter.

_I could show them how to do the pose correctly, but it isn't their pose. They aren't Summer Storm and they never will be,, and I could never be prouder of them, even if they were._

_Even Ruby, though similar to her mother, is different. There will never be another Summer._

She took the photo with a "click."

* * *

The outside of the ice cream shop looked old, despite all of Yang's assurances that it was brand new. Upon inspection, Glynda realized that it was because they had barely changed the storefront from what it used to be... sure enough, if she squinted, she could still see a faint shadow of the words "Tukson's Book Trade" on the window, even through the new sign of "Ozpin's Copy and Cafe: Books, Ice Cream, Coffee."

Glynda sighed as she thought of her old friend Tukson. He'd moved to Vacuo Heights, California a year ago, leaving his old store painfully bare. He'd probably be happy to know that it had been turned into yet another bookstore, and she made a mental note to send him a message about it on Facebook.

Leaning against the window was a delicate-looking brunette with an overly-large hoodie that she seemed to almost sink into. The deep chocolate brown jacket was remarkable not just for its size, but also for the pair of rabbit ears that decorated the hood. They flopped over the girl's face, obscuring it from passerby, but still allowing their wearer to read the volume of manga that she held intently.

Ruby rushed over to her. "Sorry to keep you waiting!"

The manga closed, and the girl removed her hood. Her deep brown eyes lit up. "There you are," she said in her distinctive voice... soft, with a slight-but-obvious English accent. "It's only been a few minutes though, don't worry."

"I just don't like making you stand outside, Vel," Ruby said with a pout.

Velvet smiled reassuringly. "It's fine." She looked around. "Yang, Nora, Ms. Goodwitch... how are you?"

"Great!" Yang exclaimed, and Nora smiled and put her thumbs up happily. Glynda nodded politely. "So," Yang continued, "Let's not all hang out here, let's get inside, okay? I want some ice cream!"

"Yeah!" Ruby agreed, and she opened the door, holding it for everyone else. Glynda smiled a little bit. She'd definitely raised a polite daughter... Summer would have been proud.

The inside of the shop, unlike the outside, was completely changed. When Tukson owned the bookstore, only the ground floor was browseable, while the basement's books were limited to staff. Now, the entire ground floor had been converted into a cafe. Tables were placed where bookshelves used to be, and there were two cashier stations... one for books and coffee, one for ice cream. White boards with the menu hung on the walls behind the food preparation area, which was made to allow customers to walk down the stairs into the bookstore section of the shop.

The store was nearly devoid of people. Two cashiers, one for each section, studied text books. Glynda guessed that they were both Beacon University students taking the job for extra cash. At the table closest to one of the cashiers, a black-haired girl with a ribbon in her hair, another girl sat and studied as well, nursing a frappe and twirling her white-as-snow sidetail as she did.

The QotC girls ran up to the ice cream cashier, and the handsome blonde sat his book down and gave them a charming grin. "Hey, I'm Sun Wukong, and I'll be your ice cream man today. Any of you ladies care to try our daily special?"

"Ooh, what is it?" Nora asked.

Sun checked the white-board behind him. "Belladonna Black Cherry and Coffee Combo."

Ruby blinked. "Isn't belladonna... kinda poisonous?"

"Is it?" Sun asked, glancing over at his ravenette coworker.

She nodded. "Well, yeah. It's also my last name, though. Ozpin... uh, the owner... let us both pick an ice cream flavor to be sold here when we were hired, and then named them after us too. So, I'm Blake Belladonna, and I picked black cherry and coffee ice cream."

Yang clapped her hands together. "Sounds great, I'll take four scoops in a chocolate dipped waffle cone."

Glynda automatically checked the price for Yang's order and barely contained a groan.

"I'll just have chocolate," Ruby said. "Sugar cone, two scoops, please."

"Oooh, I want a sugar cone too!" Nora decided.

Sun paused for a few seconds, then prompted, "And what ice cream do you want in it?"

Nora thought. "Surprise me," she decided.

Ruby turned to her girlfriend. "What are you getting?"

Velvet didn't answer to Ruby, and went straight to Sun. "I was here a week or so ago, and you managed to get me some banana stuff because of my..."

"Lactose intolerance?" Sun prompted.

Velvet nodded.

"Oh no!" Ruby exclaimed. "Velvet, I forgot! I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine, Ruby," Velvet said. "They've got a really nice substitute here."

Sun nodded and went to a cabinet behind the counter. As he opened it, the group saw that it housed what seemed to be the largest collection of ice cream decorations in the world, ranging from crumbs of cake to traditional rainbow sprinkles. "Peanut butter... peanut butter," Sun murmured to himself. Upon apparently not finding any, he shut the door and walked over to the stairs. "Ozpin!" he called. "We have a Code L and no peanut butter!"

"I'll be there in a moment!" a kind-sounding male voice yelled back.

Sure enough, within seconds a grey-haired and bespectacled man walked up the steps, a jar of peanut butter in one hand and a mug of steaming hot coffee in the other. He set the peanut butter down at Sun's workstation. "Sun's Banana Rescue Mission is much more popular than I expected," he commented.

Sun smirked. "See, I told you. The way to charm customers is to present ice cream alternatives to lactose-intolerant people, and also to invest in a lot of bananas."

"I'm only slightly surprised to admit you may be right." From a giant freezer, Ozpin pulled out a bag of what seemed to be frozen bananas and poured them into a blender, adding a small amount of peanut butter to the mix and blending both ingredients together.

After a couple minutes, in which Sun served the rest of the girls up (Nora receiving a single scoop of superman with great happiness), something that looked like a banana soft serve was handed to Velvet. "One bowl of Sun's Banana Rescue Mission," said the blonde boy. "Enjoy."

"Just out of curiosity," Velvet asked, "could I get a recipe?"

As Sun looked around for a paper and a pen, Ozpin stepped up to the cash register. "What can I get for you, Miss... Goodwitch?"

Glynda took her debit card from her purse. "Nothing, I'm just paying," she said, not quite registering what the owner of the shop had said.

"You are Glynda Goodwitch, aren't you?" he asked.

She frowned. "Do I know you?"

"No, I'm afraid you don't, but I'm a fan," the man said.

Glynda handed him her card. "Of Summer Storm."

"Well, yes," he said, "but I really meant of _you_. You were a great dancer in your youth, and now you're training the next generation. I presume this is Queens of the Castle that you've taken for ice cream?"

"Yes," Glynda confirmed sharply. "What is it that you want, Mr. Ozpin?"

He seemed to be taken aback. "Nothing, now that you've paid for that ice cream."

She let out a huff. _Nobody's ever a fan of me and only me, _she thought. _Nice try, Ozpin, but you definitely want something, even if it's just information. _

He seemed to guess what she was thinking and gave a reassuring smile. "Your daughter looks very grown up now."

"She is," Glynda said. "Thank you for the ice cream. Girls, let's go."

"We aren't eating here?" Ruby asked, or really, almost whined.

"Let's go to the park," Glynda suggested. "It's a nice day."

"Awww, okay," Ruby said. "Nice to meet you all!"

"Yeah!" Yang agreed. "Nice to meet you!" Nora smiled and waved to them, and Velvet waved as well, more shyly than the carrot-topped Nora.

"Wait!"

Sun shot a paper airplane at them, and Yang caught it out of thin air and unfolded it. "Ooh!" she exclaimed, "You're having a special event tomorrow?"

"One free scoop and a mini concert," Ozpin confirmed. "I hope to see you all here."

Glynda frowned. "Maybe," she said, and she walked out the door, trusting her girls to follow.


End file.
